[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
Angela Stanton-King is no stranger to the prison system. Stanton-King’s\u00a0daughter was born while she was serving\u00a0a three-year sentence in a Georgia state prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave birth to my daughter handcuffed to a bed,\u201d she said. \u201cThe sheriff was watching the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her release, Stanton-King founded The American King Foundation, which aims to help those returning to society after a prison sentence become productive citizens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crowds gathered\u00a0at the State House Tuesday for National Empathy Day, a nationwide event aimed at raising support and awareness for people currently or previously incarcerated. Stanton-King organized S.C.’s National Empathy Day events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Attendees were on-hand to voice their support for a current bill in the House which would make state law mirror The First Step Act, a sweeping federal criminal justice reform bill President Trump signed into law in December 2018.<\/p>\n
The proposed legislation, which would be the state version of Trump\u2019s First Step Act, would reduce sentences for those charged with non-violent offenses and provide more job skill training in state prisons.<\/p>\n
Gretchen Barron, one of the events co-organizers and a member of Right Direction Church International, said these job-skill programs would prove invaluable to those serving time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile they\u2019re behind the fence, while they\u2019re incarcerated, they can get the job skills they need in order to be productive citizens once they come out into the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Barron, who heads RDCI\u2019s community outreach ministry, has a brother currently serving a prison sentence and is a strong supporter of the prison reform legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this bill being passed, he possibly could come home a lot earlier,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
National Empathy Day is a grassroots operation. RDCI spearheaded the community-based effort here in Columbia,\u00a0and many members of the church\u2019s Broad River Road community joined the day of advocacy.<\/p>\n
The church’s proximity to many state prisons is one reason Barron said the church is involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They’re our community,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the hearing at the State House,\u00a0advocates traveled to RDCI for a forum on prison reform. Sagan Soto shared the story of her\u00a0fianc\u00e9, Terrence Stanton, who<\/span> is currently serving a life-sentence for a first offense. Soto stressed the\u00a0influence of Stanton\u2019s absence\u00a0on her three children.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impacted them severely,\u201d Soto said. \u00a0<\/p>\n Martin Quick, a minster at Francis Burns UMC, said the absence of fathers creates a cyclical effect in households and communities.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times this thing is generational, and you see son after son after son keep going to prison without having someone to prevent it,\u201d Quick said.<\/p>\n The stories shared on National Empathy Day are some of thousands in South Carolina, which currently has more than 18,000 incarcerated individuals serving in state prisons.<\/p>\n The bill follows reform laws signed into effect in S.C. in 2010 and, supporters said,<\/span> would help ease the current prison guard shortage and save taxpayers millions of dollars.<\/p>\n But for Stanton-King, who is the god-daughter of civil rights\u2019 activist and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s niece Alveda King, the bill would help communities, not just the economy, especially for children who are living with parents behind bars.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to get these people out of prison, back into their homes so they can raise their children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/empathyp2w_ZN.jpg”]<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Angela Stanton-King founded the American King Foundation after serving three years in a Georgia prison.\u00a0She led Columbia’s National Empathy Day, a nationwide event aimed at promoting compassion for\u00a0incarcerated people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/empathyp3w_ZN.jpg”]<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Gretchen Barron\u2019s brother is currently serving a prison sentence. She believes the prison reform legislation currently in the S.C. House of Representatives would bring him home a lot sooner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Screen-Shot-2019-03-05-at-4.13.22-PM.png”]<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Local and national leaders promoted prison reform legislation in Columbia Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":18770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" [et_pb_section bb_built=\"1\" _builder_version=\"3.0.91\" 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